View Full Version : Hiking the trail without much money
spirit4earth
03-01-2008, 16:05
Hi everyone,
I'd like to hike the trail, but I want to do it as cheaply as possible. Does anyone know the least amount of money needed to thru-hike? Any suggestions for keeping it cheap?
Thanks!!
Here's the latest cheap hike thread.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33805
dessertrat
03-01-2008, 17:04
It can be done for a grand if nothing goes wrong and if you are absolutely spartan and hike fast. No beer, no smokes, no hotels, no hostels. OUTSIDE in the WOODS for four months of walking except for stopping to buy food and maybe a new pair of shoes, socks, etc.
But you will more likely quit than put up with that level of deprivation for that long.
(This is a very old Whiteblaze argument. I am just stirring the pot here!)
kayak karl
03-01-2008, 17:36
is there any documentation on the money one person has spent on the trail? i hear all numbers and i know you can spend as MUCH as u want. has anyone doc'ed how little they spent? (not off the cuff, but documented) just curious!
DAMN! Gonna be a buncha broke-assed sumbeotches on the trail in '08. :D
Skidsteer
03-01-2008, 18:19
Weathercarrot's article (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=22959#post22959) from the Home page.
Well, Spirit, I'm with you on this one. I'm leaving in a week and plan on spending no more than $1500. This is not possible if you plan to stay in hotels. Everyone is different, but I see no point in hiking the trail and sleeping in hotels. I also see no point in paying for laundry, showers, shuttles or any of the other luxeries. I will try to come in under budget on most days so I can splurge for a pint of whiskey from time to time. If you start with good equipment, you will have few if any major expenses. Try to finish in as close to four months as you can. That means averaging 18 miles/day. For every zero day you take, you must have nine 20 mile days to stay on pace. The bottom line for a $1500 four month hike comes to $12.50/day. It is fairly easy to eat for $8/day (including stove fuel) which leaves you $4.50/day to save for emergencies (whiskey). Over the course of 120 days, that's $540 saved up for unexpected expenses.
A few ways to save:
1) If you are going to have a fire at night, cook over it to save fuel.
2) Spend as little time in towns as possible. Get in and get out.
3) Only go to towns that are close to the trail.
4) Resupply at supermarkets whenever possible. Convenience stores and
outfitters take advantage of desperate hikers who will pay extra to resupply.
A small store near the trail will charge twice as much as the supermarket a
mile down the road.
5) If you do have bad habits (whiskey), save the good stuff for home. Crappy
whiskey does the job too.
6) Consider a bottle of multivitamins. It's a lot cheaper than trying to eat fresh
veggies and a lot more consistant. Only take one everyother day. That's more
than most hikers will get. Fill up on carbs and protein.
7) Do not buy freeze dried foods.
8) Ramen noodles aren't the best but they cook in 2 minutes. That's four times less
fuel than pasta that takes eight minutes to cook.
9) Carry as much cash as possible. Every trip to the ATM will cost you if it's not
your bank. Banks will charge $1 - $3 just to get your money. Then your bank
will charge another dollar for using another banks ATM. That's $2 - $4 just for
making a withdrawl. Using an ATM once a week could add up to $64. I'm taking
all $1500 and I know that is stupid because if it gets lost or stolen the trip is
over. But I think the risk is low as long as nobody knows I have it (maybe I
shouldn't be announcing this on the internet). Hmmmmm, did I say I was leaving
in a week, I meant next month.
9) Never pay for what you can steal (just kidding).
This may or may not be helpful. It works for me but might not for you. Just get out there and try. Even if you don't finish, it will be the experience of a lifetime.
dessertrat
03-02-2008, 15:18
I think you'll be fine if you practice as you preach, Mongbat.
Keep the cash extremely close! Don't let ANYONE on the trail know about it. It's not that the guy you tell will steal it. . . it's that the third guy down the row who hears about it might steal it.
Good luck. I hope you can put up with the change in lifestyle. If you can, you'll be golden.
spirit4earth
03-02-2008, 15:47
thanks for the info. if i go, i think i could avoid a lot of the town expenses. especially food, since i'm a vegetarian and won't be buying a lot of hamburgers! $1500 sounds much better than $4000!
of course, being a vegetarian will present its own problems on the trail!
dessertrat
03-02-2008, 15:59
Yes, being a vegetarian will present problems in terms of ensuring enough protein, fat, and calories. Peanut butter and other nuts and legumes are likely to be important. Don't be afraid to drink straight vegetable oil (preferably of a healthy type) if the calorie situation turns desperate.
I've been reading through Ben & Lauren's blog
http://bltadventure.blogspot.com/
They ate a raw vegan diet during their thru. Compared to raw, merely vegetarian should be easy!
thanks for the info. if i go, i think i could avoid a lot of the town expenses. especially food, since i'm a vegetarian and won't be buying a lot of hamburgers! $1500 sounds much better than $4000!
of course, being a vegetarian will present its own problems on the trail!
I dare say. You can get carbs from grains and protein from beans. Just don't expect to make it on broccoli soup.
Thanks for the encouragement Dessertrat. I promise, I will practice what I preach. It's easy when you love what you preach. I can't remember who said this but it wasn't me, "I like people, I just prefer it when they aren't around."
To spirit4earth, I've known a couple of vegetarians who have completed thru hikes and they actually faired quite well. They even lost less weight than most of us meat eaters, I believe because they were already used to the diet.
Blissful
03-03-2008, 23:09
But you will more likely quit than put up with that level of deprivation for that long.
(This is a very old Whiteblaze argument. I am just stirring the pot here!)
I agree. A lot different scenerio when you are out in the cold, sleet, snow or just plain cold rain, everything is wet, and you have no money to get warm while all your best buds head for town and food and you are left shivering at some dark shelter eating a bowl of ramen for the fiftieth time.
Or - stuff starts breaking and you have no $$ to buy what you need to replace it.
Do an extra job, save your money so you have what you need to do the trail. Hikers I know last year got off the trail because they ran out of money. It is very common.
Tipi Walter
03-03-2008, 23:29
Here's how I did it on around 40-60 dollars a month:
Have a white gas stove that simmers(I had a Svea 123). The stove must be able to simmer.
Carry around 2-3 quarts of fuel(I used the old Sigg bottles).
Buy in bulk brown rice, lentils and oatmeal(augment with cheap foods like potatoes, etc).
At the end of the day you pull out the stove and get a pot of rice and lentils going. It'll take about an hour so have a pot with a lid. Simmer into the night. Add some sort of soy sauce/dressing/mayo/small slices of cheese to taste. Fill up and save the rest for the next couple of days.
With this system you can carry quite a bit of food, as much as you're willing to hump, and not even have to see a grocery store for up to two weeks. In addition, I often augmented my meals with wild edibles like violet greens, chickweed, mustard greens, lambs quarters, ramps, etc.
Poverty will make the hike a bit more of a challenge and you may become a scavenger for cheap gear and an infrequent dumpster diver. I wore a pair of boots for a year that had duct tape holding the toe together. And I keep both my backpack and my sleeping bag alive way past their due dates by sewing in new zippers I scarfed from old jackets(for the pack), and a zipper from an old bivy sac for the sleeping bag. So carry a good needle and thread and always look out for discarded gear that might help your gear.
Most people spend their lives figuring out how much money they can make, but there's another group that sees how little money they can get by with and still live out.
And if you have to get off the trail to make some money, well, here's the opportunity to put your pack to work. Find a town close to the trail and find some menial work and at night camp. And why not? I always saw myself as a sober hobo with the word "Freedom" tattoed on my arm. And maybe the song's right, freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.
Undershaft
03-04-2008, 13:30
Hiking the AT on the cheap is pretty easy to do. All you have to do is stay out of town. Don't resupply every 3 days, carry 7-9 days of food at a time. Take zero days in the woods/shelters instead of in town. You can't spend money in the woods.
nightshaded
03-04-2008, 13:32
it all comes down to what sort of lifestyle you lead off-trail, in the end. i come from a family of outdoorsmen, and my family has never had much money...we weren't impoverished, but we were certainly poor...so, early on, i learned a great deal about frugality and self-sufficiency.
i've spent much of my adult life working for short periods and spending the rest of my time on the road and in the woods.
even in my "civilized life," i manage to keep my overhead pretty low....back when i was paying for a cell phone, had a car and was paying insurance, rent, etc, my yearly overhead was only about $7000. now i don't have a car or a phone, and my expenses are much less, i only need to earn about $4000 a year.
poverty is freedom.
you have to be willing to deal with more hardships, sure, but, in some ways, the ride is more interesting, in my opinion, if you don't have money as a fall-back...it promotes creativity, and you tend to be less wasteful (i'm always amazed by how many people get rid of old bags because a newer one comes out that weighs a few ounces less, etc....for how simple the backpacking lifestyle CAN be, it always amazes me how much money some hikers have invested in gear.
the gear doesn't make the hike.
attitude...and a strong dose of stubbornness.
all that said, i'm going to be through hiking this year on a budgeted $2000 (this includes pre-purchased food for maildrops). i do have an emergency plan if i run out of money, but baring a major medical emergency, that shouldn't be an issue. my hiking partner, my sister, is of the same mindset, which is also helpful...there have been many hikes where we've been cold and wet and hungry, but having someone to share the misery with (someone who's not going to run to the nearest hotel or pub) is a great booster of morale.
just my two cents.
i'm keeping track of what i've spent so far, and will continue to do so throughout the hike. when we've completed the hike, i can post our a breakdown of our spending, since it seems that that would be something useful for other broke-a** hikers. :D
bone lady
Poverty will make the hike a bit more of a challenge and you may become a scavenger for cheap gear and an infrequent dumpster diver. I wore a pair of boots for a year that had duct tape holding the toe together. And I keep both my backpack and my sleeping bag alive way past their due dates by sewing in new zippers I scarfed from old jackets(for the pack), and a zipper from an old bivy sac for the sleeping bag. So carry a good needle and thread and always look out for discarded gear that might help your gear.
Most people spend their lives figuring out how much money they can make, but there's another group that sees how little money they can get by with and still live out.
And if you have to get off the trail to make some money, well, here's the opportunity to put your pack to work. Find a town close to the trail and find some menial work and at night camp. And why not? I always saw myself as a sober hobo with the word "Freedom" tattoed on my arm. And maybe the song's right, freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Some people just don't understand.
spirit4earth
03-04-2008, 18:07
thanks everyone for all the great information and insight!
quasarr, i went to the bltadventure site you mentioned, clicked on the "food" topic, and they ate eggs. eggs are a great source of protein, but a vegan wouldn't eat eggs. i rarely eat them, but out on the trail i might have to.
i lived on a small amount of money for years, so i'm used to that. we really do need a lot less than we think. it's great to have some comforts and toys though!
TrippinBTM
03-05-2008, 14:27
Nightshaded, I agree with everything you said. I never understand "gearheads." It's the same way with the bicycling people. I don't know crap about how various brake shoes compare... I just want to ride, and I'm the same way with hiking. In my mind, the simplicity of it is the big draw.
I think a breakdown of expenses as you mentioned would be a good idea, too. Might as well if you're already keeping track.
Johnny Swank
03-05-2008, 15:59
is there any documentation on the money one person has spent on the trail? i hear all numbers and i know you can spend as MUCH as u want. has anyone doc'ed how little they spent? (not off the cuff, but documented) just curious!
I've got a bunch of that data in a thru-hiker study I did last year. Still hammering through stuff, but the very rough average now is probably closer to $3500.
As far as cheap hiking, check out Thru-Hiking on the Cheap (http://sourcetosea.net/Articles/articles/thru-hiking-cheap.html) and some other stuff on our website for ideas.
Later
-JS
I also see no point in paying for laundry, showers,
I can splurge for a pint of whiskey from time to time.For some reason I found this to be hilarious. At least you won't have a lot of people hanging close to you trying to cadge a drink.
9) Carry as much cash as possible. Every trip to the ATM will cost you if it's not
your bank. Banks will charge $1 - $3 just to get your money. Then your bank
will charge another dollar for using another banks ATM. That's $2 - $4 just for
making a withdrawl. Using an ATM once a week could add up to $64. I'm taking
all $1500 and I know that is stupid because if it gets lost or stolen the trip is
over. Stupid is too strong a word. Foolish, maybe? When you buy food at a grocery store, just use your debit card. You can almost always get extra cash without paying a fee to anyone.